The medical writings of Rufus of Ephesus

Abstract

This thesis studies the works of a Greek doctor who lived
in the first century A. D. Rufus of Ephesus. It is based on a
reading of primary sources in both Greek, Latin and Arabic.
The materials preserved in Arabic translation has not been
fully studied before. This thesis attempts to draw a general
picture of Rufus' life and practice of medicine. It looks for
Rufus' learning centre, places of his practice of medicine and
lists his writings and the various editions and translations
they went through. The thesis discusses Rufus' status as a
practitioner and, in particular, the criteria on which his
choice of therapies were based. His explanations of the
occurrences of diseases, whether expressed explicitly or
implicitly are considered in detail. His views on humoral
causation are investigated at length in this study in order to
establish Rufus originality or conventionality.
Bed-side medicine is another important aspect of Rufus'
activities. In order to have an insight into Rufus' clinical
thinking, this thesis studies carefully his treatise Medical
Questions, in which Rufus advocates interrogating the patient
in order to recognize his or her case more accurately and
promote a better treatment. This treatise has an important
value per se as it is the first ever Greek medical treatise
which discusses exclusively the art of medical questioning.
This thesis discusses Rufus' methods of therapy by
concentrating on three different diseases, lithiasis,
melancholy and jaundice. It concludes with paying attention to
the issues of the Arabs' interest in the Greek civilization by
investigating the reasons behind the translation of Rufus'
works into Arabic, identifying the translators, and studying
the Arabs' reception of Rufus' teaching.